adoption of the laws before being joined by the Nez Percés,
and, set out for Lapwai, as he told the Cayuses, to hasten
their coming, but really to gain from them a pledge to use
their influence for the laws with this people, or to stay at
home.
The agent and his party were warmly welcomed at Lap wai by Mr. and Mrs. Spalding, and Mr. and Mrs. Littlejohn, whom White had sent to the assistance of the mission dur ing the winter. Ellis, who was at Kamiah, sixty miles away, was sent for. Meanwhile the agent was informed of the progress of the people in learning and religion. Two hundred Indians attended religious services on Sun day. Joseph, the second chief of the Nez Percés, had already been received into the church ; also Timothy, an other chief, and thirty others stood proposed for member ship. Accordingly, Mr. Spalding determined to strengthen the hands of the agent by receiving these into the church, and on Sunday, May 14, 1843, the Presbyterian church at Lapwai was augmented by thirty Nez Percé members. At the end of three days, which were employed by White in visiting the chiefs, and administering to the sick, it was announced that Ellis, with his braves, was approaching, and preparations made to receive the high chief with due ceremony.
Joseph s band, seven hundred strong, was drawn up with the agent s party in the center. On came Ellis men, about equal in number, mounted on good horses decorated with scarlet belts and headdresses, and when about fifty rods apart, Ellis forces rushed forward with a roar of mus ketry, the ear-piercing sound of the war-whistle, the beat ing of drums, the horrible yelling of savages in attack, the dashing to and fro on their mettlesome horses, while the froth from their nostrils flew in the faces of their pale-faced guests pale with a shock they were illy able to conceal.
Says Hines: "The savage pomposity with which they were caparisoned, and the frightful manner in
